Innovative Access to Third-Level Education

HOW DO I ENTER?

Visit our 'How to Enter' page for our Items Checklist & Step-by-Step Guide. CLICK HERE.

Once you have created your PDF submission and you have all items in the Items Checklist, submit your entry via the Online Entry Form. CLICK HERE.

This award will go to the organisation, institution, or partnership in Ireland that has demonstrated exceptional innovation in improving access to third-level education over the past 12 months. Entry is by a 5-page A4 PDF submission; the judges will be looking for clear information backed up by facts, with particular attention to the criteria listed below:

  • Demonstrate Initiative: Demonstrate how your access initiative or programme was developed and outline its key objectives in widening participation and creating new pathways into higher education. Articulate the unique features or value add of the innovative in comparison to what is offered by other service providers.
  • Overview: Provide an overview of how the initiative has been implemented over the past 12 months, giving specific examples. Also, outline any challenges faced during implementation and how your team demonstrated initiative, innovation, creativity, and leadership to overcome them.
  • Demonstrate Institutional or Community Benefits: Demonstrate the real benefits of the initiative for your institution, community, or sector, providing positive feedback (i.e., from internal or external stakeholders) where appropriate. Demonstrate how feedback has been used to enhance the programme offering particularly from external stakeholders and students who benefited from the inititiave.
  • Demonstrate Learner Benefits: Demonstrate how the initiative benefits learners, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, providing positive feedback (via internal surveys or testimonials) where appropriate.
  • Evidence: Provide evidence of how you monitor and measure the success of the initiative against its stated objectives, including participation rates, progression outcomes, or other measurable impacts.
  • Excellence in Inclusion & Partnership: Provide examples where your organisation has gone beyond standard access measures to enhance inclusion, strengthen learner supports, or build effective partnerships across the tertiary education landscape, including collaboration between further and higher education sectors.